All the Threads of Fate characters portrayed here are property of Squaresoft, Ltd. Except for those that I originally created. And the [relic]'s mine, ya hear? MINE! Mwahahahahahaha...er, let's get on with it.
CHAPTER
II-
Into
the Bowels of Hell
“How
do you suppose we get to the Western Desert, Mr. Know-It-All?” Mint smirked
sardonically at Keizl as the group approached Carona Town.
Keizl
ignored the remark and replied, “By air, of course. Or by land, if you wish.
However, as I recall in my Geography class, Western Desert is plagued by
countless dangers, and the weather itself is capricious, ranging from dead calms
to lethally devastating sand tsunamis. And one must never forget the scorching
heat during the day and freezing temperatures at nights.”
Mint
gazed wide-eyed at him with jaw dropped open.
“Doesn’t
sound too bad,” Rue murmured beside them.
This
caused Mint to regain her wits and glare at him. “Easy for you to say, weirdo.
You can’t feel a thing even if someone stuck you in a freezer and turned you
into an ice block. You’re lucky being a doll.”
Rue
cast his eyes down and said softly in a somewhat sad, wistful tone, “That’s
not what I think.”
“Oh
my god! Am I seeing things?! Is it really the both of you again?”
Mint
and Rue glanced up ahead of them to see a red-headed figure waving at them at
the gate.
“Hey,
it’s Rod,” Rue recognized.
The
aforementioned fighter/weaponsmith/pilot met them halfway, a spotted puppy
bounding at his heels. “Yo, what’s up? I had a feeling we’d meet again!”
Rod declared. “Especially you, Rue. I told you I’d always find you by your
heart.”
Mint
rolled her eyes at the “heart” business, while Keizl seemed perplexed.
“Heart? I don’t understa-”
Rod
turned to him. “Hey there. You must be Keizl, the guy whom Mrs. Cartha has
been ranting on about when I bumped into her. Did you know that she actually
described you? I’m Rod. Glad to meet ya!” He shook Keizl’s doubtful hand.
“Ah,
Rod! Just the man I was looking for,” Klaus declared as he and his family
caught up to them. “Do you still have your transportation with you?”
Mint
snapped her fingers. “Yeah! Where’s your Pinto?”
Rod
glared at her, his eyebrow twitching angrily. “I told you...” he said
through gritted teeth. “It’s called the-”
“Pulsar
Inferno Typhoon Omega,” Mint drawled with him. “Yeah, yeah, I know.
Pinto.”
Rod
sighed in defeat. “Whatever. Anyway, it’s down at the river. Why? What do
you need it for?”
“To
get to the Western Desert,” Rue replied.
Rod
scratched his head. “I don’t know if it could take you that far...And
besides, it’s the Western Desert! What would you want to do there?”
“We
are in pursuit of an Aeon [relic], my good man,” Keizl answered. “Perhaps
you could take us to the most accessible town there...”
“It
makes me wonder...” Mint commented. “Who’d wanna live there?”
“Ahh,
lots of merchants and traders reside in that area,” Keizl informed her,
adjusting his glasses. “You see, the Western Desert is bountiful when it comes
to valuable metals such as gold, silver, copper, and sometimes, diamonds can be
excavated from under the ground.”
Mint’s
eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “Gold?! Diamonds?! What the hell
are we waiting for?!” She grabbed Rue’s wrist and dashed towards the
riverside. “To the desert!”
Everyone
raised an eyebrow as the duo disappeared around the corner.
“Um...”
Rod started to say, scratching his head. “I don’t think I even agreed
to take you guys there...”
************************
After
several moments of luck-wishing, last-minute preparation and tearful goodbyes
(on Mrs. Cartha’s part), Rue, Mint and Keizl buckled their seatbelts as Rod
gunned the engine of the Pulsar Inferno Typhoon Omega, slamming everyone hard
into their seats.
They
torpedoed down the river for a few moments before Rod flipped the switch to
activate all ten cannon orbs in the sorcerous drive. The vehicle stopped for a
while, then lurched suddenly into the air, sending Keizl’s glasses askew on
his face.
“IYAHH!!!”
Keizl exclaimed as he clung on for dear life. “Someone should have warned me
this boat would take off with a jolt!”
“Whaddaya
mean ‘this boat’?!” Rod demanded. “For your information, it’s called
Pulsar Inferno Typh- ack!...bit mah thongue...”
************************
After
four hours of breath-taking scenery, scientific lectures [thanks to Keizl, who
just couldn’t seem to shut up], and sore butts, there was a significant rise
in the temperature, and the forests and plains below them were replaced with
vast expanses of searing ochre sand.
“Alright!
We made it!” Rod whooped.
“What?!
Already?!” Mint gasped.
“Pardon
me, Princess Mint,” Keizl spoke up. “But let me remind you that the Western
Desert is a wide tract of land spreading hundreds of miles in all directions. To
find a single [relic] here would be like, as the old saying goes, ‘finding a
needle in a haystack’.”
“Is
there a town nearby?” Rue inquired from the backmost seat. “Surely, some of
the villagers might have heard of rumors about this [relic].”
“Hmm...you
are right, Sir Rue.” Keizl turned to the redhead in front of him. “My good
man, do you happen to know of a nearby village or kibbutz or dwelling of some
sort?”
With
one hand on the steering wheel, Rod bent down to retrieve a piece of paper from
a pile of similar manuscripts at his feet. “Yeah, there’s a city nearby.
Ephresia? Something like that.”
“Whoa,”
Mint remarked. “You’ve got a map of this place?”
“Hey,
I’m a traveler,” Rod replied. “I collect maps.”
Rod
maneuvered the vehicle deeper into the desert. Several minutes later, he
announced the one statement that they had been dreading for the entire
journey...
“We’re
running out of fuel.”
“What?!
Already?!” Mint gasped.
Keizl
tried to restrain her. “Calm down, everyone. I am certain there is enough fuel
for us to get to the city in time...”
“Sorry,
scholar boy,” Rod corrected. “We still have fifteen miles more to go, and
the remaining fuel will only take us about five miles further.”
“That
means...we’ll have to walk the rest of the way there,” Rue concluded.
A
heavy silence fell upon the group for a few moments, until Mint wailed in
despair.
“TEN
MILES?! You expect us to survive TEN MILES in the boiling hot desert?! With no
food or water?!”
“Surely
some other travelers will chance upon us...” Keizl assured her.
“Yeah,
chance upon our rotting corpses!” Mint retorted. “Can you stop being so
optimistic for once?!”
“Can
you stop being so pessimistic for once too?!” Keizl countered.
Before
their bickering could explode into a fullblown deathmatch, Rue calmly addressed
Rod. “Take us as far as you could go.”
“Roger
that, Rue,” Rod grinned. “I knew you had the heart to say that.”
“Puh-lease...”
Mint groaned.
************************
“I
gotta take this baby down now before we completely run out of fuel and crash,”
Rod proclaimed about five miles later.
“What?!
Already?!” Mint gasped.
Rod
turned around to glare at her. “Can you NOT say that everytime I announce
something?! It’s grating on my nerves, y’know.”
“ROD!
LOOK OUT!” Keizl shrieked, gesturing wildly towards the front of the craft.
Rod
swiveled around just in time to yell as a silver blur collided with the Pulsar.
The
vehicle spun out of control, then Rod finally regained his wits and promptly
grabbed the wheel...however, not in time.
The
explosion of sand around them as the Pulsar crashed into a dune was coupled with
the group’s screams and vociferations. And as suddenly as it began, the
cacophony died down, and everyone realized that they were on the ground.
“MY
BABY!!!” Rod was the first to leap out of the vehicle. “MY BABY
CRASHED!!!”
“It
doesn’t look so bad,” Rue reassured the panicked fellow as he climbed out.
“It seems to be repairable.” He turned to help a stunned Keizl out of his
seat.
“Way
to go, doofus!” Mint interjected, leaping out of the wreck. “You just busted
your own Pinto. It’s all your fault.”
“No,
it’s not!” Rod protested vehemently. “If I remember, you were the one who
was ticking me off with your stupid remarks.”
“Stupid
remarks?!” Mint responded. “It wasn’t my fault you decided to turn
around.”
“Only
to shut you up!”
“Jerk!”
“Idiot!”
“Dumbass!”
“Bit-”
“AHEM!!!”
All
eyes turned to the figure standing before them, garbed in a white tank top,
loose black pants and knee-high tanned hide boots. A royal blue cloak, pinned on
one shoulder with a gold emblem, was draped across his chest, its hood obscuring
his facial features. Hugging diagonally around his hips was a wide leather belt,
unto which a money bag, a water pouch, a sheathed blade and other equipment were
strapped on.
The
stranger, who looked about Rue’s age and height, took a step forward, then
pulled back the hood of his cloak, revealing honey-colored hair with a stubby
sprout of a ponytail at the back and soulful green eyes set on nicely tanned
skin.
“Um...I’m
sorry. It was my fault,” he stated in a shy, apologetic voice. “My dragon,
Ginseihin, went out of control back there, you see...”
A
silver winged reptile behind him snorted, swishing its slender tail about
lazily.
“...By
the way, my name’s Esuo.” Smiling, the youth stuck out a gloved hand.
Rod
glanced at the others before stepping forward to shake Esuo’s hand.
“Hi...I’m Rod, that’s Rue, Keizl and Mint.”
“I’m
the Princess of East Heaven Kingdom,” Mint added smugly.
Esuo’s
eyes widened. “Whoa...the East Heaven Kingdom?! I’ve heard about that place!
My father has been trading with them for the past ten years.”
“Your
father’s a merchant?” Keizl inquired.
“Only
the head of the Desert Guild!” Esuo declared proudly. However, a shadow of
pensiveness flickered on his face, then vanished, as if only in passing.
Esuo’s smile widened, then said, “How about if I take you all to meet him?
He’ll have some men repair your aircraft, and perhaps aid you in your travel.
I’m sure he can’t wait to have an audience with Her Highness.”
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Finally! My inspiration has kicked in and has motivated me into continuing this fic. For a moment there, I was thinking of giving up, but then I chanced upon this fic [which was buried in my file folders] and just felt like typing a continuation. So here it is. ^^;; Also, Japanese readers will note that "Ginseihin" means "silver".